Tropical garden

Just some more photos from the garden today.

The big mango tree at the driveway is loaded with baby green mangos. That is a very steep driveway actually. Scale can be deceptive when used to plants like the birds nest fern as seen in NZ, maybe the size of a dinner plate, this one has grown to the size of a kid's paddling pool.

 Yesterday there was a dead baby black snake just by the car. It had been freshly killed, in fact while I was having breakfast because it wan't there when I came back from my walk. I'd love to know how it died. Is there a nest of them? Since I have been here there have been three snakeskins - all of them outside my bedroom - yes, there are screens on all the windows. This would be a python maybe 2 metres in length.

I see quite a few of the beautiful iridescent blue Ulysses butterflies flashing by. This is not as stunning as the Ulysses, but was obligingly still.

The butterfly matches these day lilies.

 A bare twig in a pot has burst out into brilliant colour in the last week.

 Another example of something that in another climate would be an indoor plant.

Garden tour

This morning a bit of a tour for you, of the garden that Frances Boyd has created at their home in Freshwater. I am really enjoying staying here while they are in Madrid. Watering is a chore that I am only too happy to do. Their block is high up the hill (though there are two blocks higher up, one was cleared last week ready for building soon). So here is the view from the verandah.

Last night there was smoke from bushfires burning over on the other side of the inlet, hence the pink sky.

This morning it is lovely and clear and I can see the Coral Sea. That's Earl Hill in the background, at Trinity Beach.

The canefields across this area are set to be changed dramatically if the Aquis development goes ahead. A Chinese developer has well-developed plans for a hotel-casino complex that is said to cost $8 trillion. It would impact significantly on this view, creating 8 hotels and 2 casinos, theatres and an aquarium.


But back to the garden....

Bromeliads. Lots of them. Growing up palm trees and in pots, clinging to rocks and branches.

Beautiful and bizarre plants. Frances has lots of Tillandsia, too, more on these air plants later. Moving on to the gingers. A bare patch of hillside has burst out with pink flowers in the last few weeks.

This is a native turmeric, brought back from Cape York by Ian, and now happily thriving here. I recognised it from one of the exquisite paintings in the current exhibition at the Regional Gallery. It is a wonderful exhibition called Capturing Flora: A passion for the Exotick.

And this is a ginger flower. You can buy these from a stall at Rusty's market, along with equally huge and colourful heliconias. You need to have HUGE vases when you live in Cairns. Frances has red heliconias, they are just coming out, I picked some this morning for the kitchen bench. Though when you look out onto such a lovely garden, you don't really need flowers inside.

The other flower that has just emerged is the amaryllis. These cheer up my day - how could they not?

Aren't they stunning?

The garden is mostly foliage actually, but I am having trouble getting good photos. So here's another plant that is flowering at the moment. And there are paw paws, but I found I need to be quick to beat the birds or bats. 

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With the Lynches in Cairns

 These photos are all taken on my phone, and I have not worked out how to get the most out of it. Anyway, here are Eva and Annie Jean on the boardwalk at the Botanic Gardens in Cairns.

In my last post I had a photo of Rachel and the girls at the zoo in Auckland. A couple of weeks later here we are again, this time exploring Cairns. They had booked a holiday to Port Douglas before I knew I was going to be here. So I have a lovely time taking them to a few of my favorite places.

The pelicans on the saltwater lake at the Gardens were a great hit with the girls.

I joined the holiday-makers on their reef trip. This was my first visit to Low Isles, off Port Douglas. Quicksilver do a great job and we were lucky with the weather.

That's the Quicksilver boat at anchor. They run a little shuttle to and from the island and provide glass bottom boat trips for those who can't go snorkelling.

The Last Post (from kiwiland)

For the last few weeks I have been living at Uncle Dennis' place in Auckland. House sitting is very relaxing and I have done much less than I thought I would.

Lovely house to live in. I used to come and stay here when I was a teenager and I am very fond if it. That's one of Dennis's paintings, my favorite.

I have thoroughly researched the coffee shops on the North Shore and found the best vegan soups at Wise Cicada in Newmarket. Other than that, not much to write about. I went to the Auckland Zoo with Rachel and the girls.

And now the next adventure - Cairns tomorrow, more house sitting.

Endings

It happened suddenly. One day I was slim and lithe, the next day I caught myself in the bathroom mirror and realised I was looking not slim, but malnourished. Strong words to self. Too Scrawny! Too Wrinkly! Too Flappy! Far too Old Lady!

And it was because of the feeding tube, ironically. That dangling appendage has finally come out, but the procedure for having it removed wasn't much fun. I had a gastroscopy, which involves having a pipe put down your throat so a camera can go down into the gut to check that the end of the tube hasn't got embedded or anything. I think the doctor was hoping to cut the tube and remove the button that holds it inside the stomach by pulling it up and out the same way that his camera went in. I strongly suspect he hadn't accounted for the effects of seven weeks of radiation to the throat, which meant that a) my mouth doesn't open very far these days and b) my throat is now about as wide as a panadol capsule for a significant distance. I opted for sedation during the procedure. I remember clearly they tried to put a thing into my mouth to hold it open, and had to hunt for the pediatric version because I couldn't open wide enough. Enough said re what came next, but the last thing I can remember is fighting frantically to get that stuff out of my mouth, while they tried to hold my hands still.

When I woke up he came around to tell me the button got left inside. He said it would pass through in a few days and hopefully it has. As pleased as I am to be free of the tube, for whatever reason the whole procedure knocked me back and I spent most of the next few days dozing on the sofa, scoffing cherry-flavoured pamol (baby panadol) every few hours for a sore throat and not caring for food at all. Plus every time my jaw moved, there was this crunchy noise in one ear - most annoying.

My energy is picking up again now and the crunch has disappeared. Adventures with Food is pretty well back on track. Cottage pie last night was a great success. Yoghurt is still a failure. It tastes awful and goes claggy. Pear and pistachio choclolate cake with whipped cream - hell yes. Ice cream, mmmwh, not really. But goes down in a milkshake or an iced coffee when there are not many other options. Bring it on.

Word of the day is trissmus. That's what it called when you hold three fingers together and try to put them in your mouth and they don't fit. Though that does seem like it would be a bit of stretch under the best of circumstances. My trissmus thing is much better than it was, so I expect it will continue to improve. Foot in mouth again in no time.

This should be pretty much the end of my cancer story, apart from ongoing adventures with food. I got let off lightly. Hope you all wore your daffodils on Friday.

And it is also the end of my life in Rotorua. I'm all packed up and on the move again.

More about food

What to eat? I need to plan ahead and make an effort, though lately I'll admit I have gone back to topping up with good old bottles of hospital Ensure. I'm on a countdown now for a move back to Australia and trying to empty the store cupboards rather than spending money at the supermarket. I have significant stocks of the prescription food supplies and seeing as I have to wait another couple of weeks to get the feeding tube removed, I might as well use them.

Yes, selling up and moving on. Again. This time I am being really ruthless with what I'm getting rid of. Loads of stuff is going to the local hospice shop. Anyone want to buy a lovely little house with all-day sun and lake views? I'm sad to be leaving the house, but looking forward to getting back into a well-paid job. And that is not going to happen in Rotorua.

Back to the food adventures. I made a lentil and tomato soup and found the tomatoes too acidic. Stingy on throat and tongue. A bit of googling and experimenting saved it all from going to the birds - I added some baking soda, some roasted pumpkin and lots of coconut milk, and it ended up quite edible.

Helen suggested homemade baked beans with a poached egg on top, and that was another success. Red kidney beans with added carrots and celery. Flavoured with mustard, worchester sauce and maple syrup.

My carrot and cashew soup was actually quite nice too. In addition to using cashew cream to thicken, I roasted some extra cashews for extra flavour.




Your suggestions are welcome. The trick is getting enough protein, although my green smoothies help with that because of the added protein powder. I need the energy to help with this sorting, clearing and cleaning. Hard work!

Adventures with food

Some food adventures are happy ones, but many end up with a trip to the compost bin or casting morsels to the birds. My weight is at an all time low so I have widened the vegan diet to get more calories. An omelette ended up in the bin, it was too dry to get down. A bit like (I imagine) trying to eat the bill, remembering those days at restaurants when there was such a thing as a bill. Likewise the bowl of mashed potatoes with sardines - a good idea thanks Di, but it didn't work. Ice cream was a real failure. It makes my mouth slimy and my teeth furry, and if you can imagine both happening at once you can guess it it's just not nice. And I don't like sweet things any more.

But when I have a success it is a cause for great excitement. Yesterday I made a chinese dropped egg soup, and not only finished it but enjoyed the experience. And I have rediscovered tomatoes. The first time I tried, they stung my throat, but now I find I can eat them comfortably, yay. Maybe chopped tomatoes in an omelette would work. French onion soup is good. Mild dahl has become my regular evening meal.

Old habits stick around, and I often have the urge to just snack on something, not because I'm hungry necessarily. The only thing that I have found so far that works is chia pudding. Just chia seeds soaked in whatever nut milk I have on the go with a bit of vanilla or cinnamon.

Hopefully new habits are forming.

Green smoothies fill me up. Fresh silverbeet leaves, kiwi fruit, banana, protein powder, coconut water, spirulina, flax seed oil and a few frozen berries.

Life without saliva is hard, but I'm sure I'll adjust to it. Sips of water with food doesn't come naturally but over time I guess it just becomes the new normal. Likewise with tastes and mouth feel - it is what it is.

Down in the garden the japonica is flowering. It is a welcome reminder that spring is not far off.